Monday June 4th

Prague from Charles Bridge

After a short stay in Vienna, Monday brought a train ride to the next stop of our European tour; Prague. We rose early to pack our bags and make our way to the train station for our 9:30 train. We actually arrived about 45 minutes early so I took advantage of the extra time to buy a cinnamon roll with raisins that was approximately the size of my face. I guess at this point my trip to Vienna had come full circle breakfast-wise, starting with Pringles and ending with a delicious cinnamon roll. After scarfing down the breakfast treat I made my way to the train which arrived exactly on-time and left five minutes later exactly on-time. The aviation industry needs to take notes on how Austrian trains stick to a given schedule. However, Austrian trains are not without their own faults. For the second train ride in a row, our six person car was lacking proper air conditioning. I’m beginning to wonder if, when our professor booked our trains, he forgot to check the box requesting an air-conditioned car. Luckily this time we were just sitting in the car rather than sleeping, but the trip was nonetheless very warm. After five hours of riding in Satan’s kitchen we arrived in Prague.

 

We reached our hotel in Prague mid-afternoon to check-in and grab a late lunch. I was actually impressed with all the different food offerings in close proximity to our hotel. Before I found somewhere to eat lunch I had to stop by an ATM to withdraw some Czech currency. Unlike the vast majority of our stops in Europe, the Czech Republic does not use the Euro but rather the Czech Crown. It was slightly confusing pulling money out of the ATM because $1 equates to about 20 Czech Crowns. After withdrawing a thousand Crowns out of the ATM, I snagged a quick lunch and headed back to the hotel to unpack and lay down for a few minutes.

Gehry's crazy building

The group met up at 6:30 to walk around the city for a while and see the sites. One of the most interesting was a building designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, as seen in the picture below. We later walked to such sites as the Charles Bridge, Jewish quarter, and Old Town Square. Even though we have been traveling for a while now, seeing all these new and interesting places does not get old. After finishing our walk in the Old Town Square, the group was released for the evening. I was starving since it was about 9 PM, so a few of us went to a stand that was roasting hams and sausages. I ended up ordering a sausage, potatoes with cabbage and bacon, and a cold beer to wash it down. Similar to Vienna, the food was not the most flavorful in the world but it was tasty and filling. After a long day, I was ready to call it a night and prepare myself for the rest of our short trip in Prague.